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LYNCHBURG IN THE DECADE OF THE
1960
S
TOP: One of the last farm shows held in Lynchburg.
ABOVE: The Miller Home is razed to make way for Pittman Plaza.
n 1960 Lynchburg, Virginia, covered 25 square miles and was home to 55,000 citizens. William C. Vaughan was the mayor, Robert D. Morrison was the city manager and the city employed the Council Manager form of government. Twelve thousand men and 8,000 women were employed in a wide
variety of industrial, educational, service and retail businesses. In 1960 the annual payroll totaled $75 million. General Electric’s Mobile Radio Division, Babcock and Wilcox Nuclear Power Generating Group, which opened plants and offices in the mid-1950s, joined Craddock-Terry Shoe Corporation and the Lynchburg Foundry Company as the largest industrial employers. The arrival of hundreds of families from New York and Ohio who came to work for B&W and GE impacted the city’s housing, schools and churches, helping to transform the city in the process.
Travelers reached Lynchburg on Piedmont Airlines, arriving at the
new terminal completed in 1960 at Preston Glenn Airport, south of the city. Daily train service was provided by the Norfolk & Western railway at Union Station, located at the foot of Ninth St., or by the Southern Railway, which used the Kemper Street Station in mid-town. Greyhound and Virginia Trailways provided intercity bus service and residents could use the Lynchburg Transit Co. buses around town.
BY THOMAS G. LEDFORD
Reflecting national development, the explosion of automobile travel locally forced construction of a new bridge across the James River named for United States Senator Carter Glass, a Lynchburg native. The expressway had been completed southward to Wards Road and improvements were planned for U.S. 29 and 460, connecting Lynchburg to Charlottesville, Danville, Richmond and Roanoke. Residents could buy a Chrysler, Plymouth or DeSoto from Adams Motor Co., or visit Mayor Bill Vaughan’s dealership and purchase a Chevrolet, Cadillac, or a new Corvair.
The media, too, was growing. Viewers tuned in to WLVA-TV (later WSET) and listened to news and tunes on radio stations WLVA, WWOD
or WBRG. WDMS signed on in
1962 and WLLL in1965. Lynchburg residents read The News and The Daily Advance, which came under increasing criticism for its policies on race as the 1960s unfolded. Telephone numbers, meanwhile, began with the letters VI for Victor and WH for Whitehall and most homes now had private lines.
The 1960s witnessed fundamental changes in Lynchburg as a result
of industrial development, racial integration and a social revolution
that challenged this city’s low-key, conservative past. During the decade, Lynchburg’s downtown center declined, but residents could still shop at Leggett Department Store, Miller and Rhodes, or Schewel Furniture Company. They
6 LYNCH’S FERRY
COURTESY OF THE NEWS & ADVANCE COURTESY OF THE NEWS & ADVANCE


































































































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